agreed. long arms make benchpressing quite difficult. As teenagers me and my friend worked out daily(too much!!) We never maxed out but our highest bench was over 300lbs after 6 to 8 sets. Our reps decreased a little of course. My friend stood 5'8" and weighed 165 pounds and benched more than me !!! As an ex- weight lifting fanatic I read every bit of info available and have friends who are degreed in sports medicine so I'm not ignorant in this area. And every thing I've read about their system is awesome. Herman will be benching what he should to emphasize his ability on the field. If I'm correct Moffit's system stresses use of execises that has similiar range of motion that you use on the field not just in the weight room. LSU athlete's will be some of if not the best conditioned athlete's in the nation. In my experience starting out totally out of shape it takes me 3-6 months to get where I'm happy. three months to condition and remove all fat and the next 3 months to add lean muscle and then its simple maintainance! Lets wait after a summer on the wieght program let's see what herm is doing.
While a max bench press of over 400 pounds is clearly an awesome feat, I don't know that it is necessarily an idicator of overall strength, especially for an OL. These guys use their legs so much for push, that squats are of equal, if not more importance. Plus remember that Big Herm was so much bigger and stronger than everyone he went up against that he probably wasn't pushed as hard as he could have been. 300 pounds on the bench is quite impressive for someone who is 195. Takes an incredible amount of discipline in diet and exercise to get up to those what would otherwise be gaudy numbers for the rest of the average joes out there. Even in my slim and trim days, when I was 6'1", 215, my max was 275 (1 rep).
Moffitt does not receive the credit that he deserves. He was the athletic trainer at Tenn when they won their last NC. Then he went to UM and took them to the NC. Now he takes LSU to the NC, unbelievable resume.
Clean and Jerk movements and squats is what will make herman explosive off the line not bench presses.
Lets not overlook the importance of the bench press. Yes those other movements will make him explosive off the line, but he needs a strong upper body to hold defenders off. Being explosive off the line is only half the battle. I'm not worried though, he'll get stronger.
I wouldn't worry; with proper form, technique, and coaching from the LSU staff this kid will be fine. How you control the weight is just as important as how much weight you use. As for holding off defenders? Lock those arms and his weight should keep guys at bay for a while.
Skyler Green benches over 400, as does Toby Gowin, ex-punter for the Saints. Too much emphasis is placed on the bench. If you want a good gauge of strength in terms of football power, look at the power clean and squat. Football is a lot more about having a solid foundation (legs, abs, lower back) than being able to bench press. I don't remember too many times when OLs or DLs stand straight up and use just their arms to engage in combat. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being able to bench a lot isn't important, I'm just saying that strong legs, abs, and lower back are more important.
I can speak firsthand about Moffitt's system, having been at John Curtis while he was strength coach there in the late 80's/early 90's. Much of it is based on the Nebraska system. In fact, I believe he did a thesis on it at Tenn. Tech (which apparently was required for a bachelor's, since I don't think he has a master's in Ex Phys.). That system has three main elements. First, you increase your max every 6 weeks. Start by maxing out 1 rep on the required lifts. Your next 6 weeks, you do sets of that exercise of decreasing reps, but an increasing % of your max, i.e. Set 1: 8-10 reps 55%; Set 2: 6-8 reps 65%; Set 3: 4-6 reps 70%, etc. (random numbers, by the way). Eventually, your Set 4 is 2-3 reps at 110%-120% of your original max. The next day, it's a new maxout day, and you start over. Second, as has been pointed out above, this man LIVES for Olympic lifts, especially the Clean and Jerk (you end up with the bar over your head, not just at your throat). Two reasons. First, they're explosive, so your fast-twitch fibers figure highly into the equation. Second, they are technical, and thus reward precision (people don't realize how much line play on both sides are technique oriented; it ain't just who's bigger). An aside about the bench - it's nice, but overrated. The danger is that you don't do it explosively, and so you're strong but stiff. If the DE is by you before you can get your hands into his pads, doesn't matter how strong you are. And as Chuck Noll once said, how often are you flat on your back on a football field? Hopefully not much. But the most important thing? FLEXIBILITY. It's the main reason the LSU football team does mass karate in the offseason. Explosion figures in here as well, but you only spend about 20 min per hour punching and kicking. It's mostly stretching. BRUTAL stretching. I'm talking splits. His theory? If you can do a split, how are you going to pull a groin? Hard. It is not accident the LSU team had so few injuries in 2003. You can avoid a lot of injuries if you're flexible enough to make subtle adjustments just before a big hit. Pete Jenkins actaully helped turn him onto this - his son Jeff is a multiple black belt, and he's the one who put us thru our paces at Curtis. We had a 280 OL who went to Colorado who could do a full split by the end of the summer. I wouldn't worry about big Herman. He'll be as strong as he needs to be.
